What is data scraping and what can I do to protect my content on ZenVideo?

What is scraping?

Data scraping is the process of collecting data from a website or other online source.  This can be done manually or using automated tools.  Data scraping is often used to collect information for search engines, research, marketing, and other purposes.

Some data scraping is necessary to ensure your ZenVideo profile and videos appear on third-party search engines.  Data scraping can be problematic when collecting information and sensitive data without the creator’s consent.  Some companies scrape copyrighted content and other personal material to train artificial intelligence models.

Why should I care whether my videos are scraped?

You should care if your videos are scraped from public sites because it can violate your rights as a content creator, particularly regarding copyright and ownership.  When videos are scraped and redistributed without permission, creators may lose control over how their work is used and attributed.

Additionally, scraping can lead to misrepresentation of the original context or intent behind the video, potentially causing misunderstandings or misinterpretations.  Privacy concerns also arise when personal or sensitive information is involved, even if the video was originally shared publicly.  Ethically, users may object to their content being used in ways that do not align with their values or intentions, highlighting the importance of respecting creators' rights and preferences online.

What is ZenVideo doing to prevent unauthorized scraping on its platform?

Unauthorized scraping is a violation of ZenVideo’s Terms of Service.  We actively investigate suspected scrapers to gain a deeper understanding of their activities and utilize that information to enhance the security of our systems.  We take action against unauthorized scraping, such as blocking accounts associated with scraping and initiating legal proceedings, when appropriate.

Because scrapers often mimic the ways that people use our services legitimately, we continue to implement new ways to prevent scraping without harming our users’ ability to interact with our apps and websites the way they enjoy.

What can I do to protect my ZenVideo content from unauthorized scraping?

Since scrapers frequently aim to gather publicly available data, you need to configure your video's privacy settings so that only your intended audience can watch your videos.  ZenVideo also offers several features that can help you protect your content from unauthorized scraping:

• Disable the ability for viewers to download your video from the video page.
• Update the privacy settings of your videos:
  • Mark your videos as Private so they will be visible only to you (the owner), account admins and any team members granted access to the video or the folder it's in;
  • Password-protect your videos so that only people with the password can view them; or
  • Mark your videos as Unlisted so they will not appear in public search results (such as Google) but can be accessed and shared by anyone who has the video's unique URL.
• Prevent your profile page and all of your videos from appearing on ZenVideo.com by enabling Private Mode.
• Add a watermark to your videos to make it more difficult for scrapers to use them.